Crate and box construction



H. F. SESTER 2,609,957

CRATE AND BOX CONSTRUCTION Sept. 9, 1952 Filed Feb. 10, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 2 srms'rs-smw 2 m l ////&

Sept. 9, 1952 H. F. SESTER CRATE AND BOX CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 10, 1948 ia/ yf'jesz er- Patented Sept. 9, 1952 2,609,957 7 V CRATE AND BOX CONSTRUCTION Harry F. Sester, Benton Harbor, Mich., assignor to Saranac Patents Holding Company, Benton Harbor, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application l iebruary 10, 1948, Serial No. 1,424

This invention relatesin general to a box or crate construction, and more particularly to a bo'xor crate construction of the so-called mm- 2 Claims. ((31. 217-48) bound? type. More specifically, the invention relates to .a wire-bound box or crate which is adapted to be folded or knocked down in shipment.

' An important feature of the present invention, and, therefore, one of the principal objects thereof, is the provision of a knockdown .wirebound crate embodying a construction wherein the binding wires of the crate or boxvare arranged in grooves on the inside faces of the surrounding cleats, whereby the binding wire is adapted to, slip or shift longitudinally when the crate is opened for use, thereby overcoming the necessity of tightening the binding wires after the crate isinopen position, and still providing a strong, durable and rigid crate or box constructions f Another important object of the invention re sidesin the formation'of grooves arranged interiorly of the surrounding cleats with a binding wire arranged in the groove and the supporting side slats or vertical body members secured to the'inner faces of the cleats and extending over the binding wire so as to permit the binding wire to slip when the crate is opened and, atthe same time, make a close, tightly fitting crate or box construction without the necessity of tightening the binding "wiresaiter the crate is expanded or Another important object of, the invention resides in the provision of side slats connected to the encircling cleats in such a manner, that an adjacent corner slat will engage an inside face of a'nadjacent slat of the contiguous wall section.

Still another novel ieature' of, the invention resides; in the construction and arrangement of parts, and the locating and positioning of the various elements which may be readily arranged and'assembled to provide a complete encircling wall of a crate type so that when the crate is expanded from its normal flat or knocked down shipping position to its expanded or normalposition for use, the crate will be rigid and durable in construction, will not require any additional tightening or maneuverng, and all wires will be concealed.

' Numerous other objects and advantages will be apparent throughout the progress of the specification which follows.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a certain selected embodiment of the invention, and the views therein are as follows:

Fig. 1 is a detail perspective .view of the improved wire-bound knockdown crate construction embodying the four enclosing side walls and one formation of bottom enclosure which may be used in connection therewith;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal elevational view showing the various enclosing cleats of the crate with its contiguous ends connected by a continuous wire, the continuous wire extending a predetermined distance between the ends of the outer cleat sections to permit the same to be secured together;

Fig. 3 is a detail end elevation of the improved crate construction arranged in its normal shipping or knockdown condition;

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view taken through adjacent side walls of the crate in its elongated or knockdown condition showing the manner in which the binding wire is arranged in grooves on the inner faces of the cleats, and the manner in Whichthe enclosing slats are secured to the cleats by means of staples straddling the binding wires; n 3

Fig. 5 is a detail transverse sectional view on the line 5--5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view similar to Fig. 4 but showing a corner of the crate after the same has been expanded for normal use.

The particular construction herein shown for the purpose of illustrating the invention discloses, specifically, a multi-sided crate construction, which construction is also applicable to multi-sided boxes.

The crate l herein shown, Fig. 1, comprises a plurality of cleats orbattens 2 to form crate or box encircling or encompassing elements 3. The encircling elements 3 may be spaced apart a predetermined distance depending upon the height or length of the completed crate or box.

Each cleat 2 of an encircling element 3, Figs. 1 to 6, is provided with a groove 4 on its inner face 5. The groove 4 is preferably arranged intermediate its upper and lower edges, and a binding wire 6 is adapted to be received in the groove of each cleat, 2. The cleats 2 may be arranged in proper spaced apart relationship, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, and the binding wire 6 is arranged in the groove. In the case of a square box or crate, four such cleats are arranged in longitudinal spaced apart relationship, and the binding wire 6 received in the grooves of the adjacent cleats. The binding wire 6 extends a predetermined distance between the ends of each end cleat as indicated at 1, Fig. 2, so that these free ends 1 may be, secured together as indicated at 8, Fig. 3, after the various cleats have had the encircling side slats or strips 9 secured thereto and the various crate sides, encircling the cleats, have'becn secured to the inner faces 5 of the cleats. The slats 9 are secured with their outer faces engaging the inner faces 5 of the cleats so as to cover the binding wires. The slats are secured to the oleatsby means of staples passing through the inner faces of the slats with the staple legs H extending into the inside surfaces of the cleats, the legs H of the staples it straddling the groove and wire, as clearly shown in Figs. 4 to 6, inclusive, see particularly Fig. 5. The staples 10 may have their legs Ii pass through the outer face of the cleat-s and then clinched over against the outer face.

The crate, therefore, comprises a plurality of enclosing side walls i2, four of such sides being shown herein specifically. Each section i2 comprises spaced vertically arranged cleats 2 having the slats 9 fastened thereto by means of the staples it. Each enclosing side wall i2 is connected together by'the continuous binding wire 6 which is arranged in the groove l of all the cleats 2. In the particular illustrative crate shown in Fig. 1, each section includes three vertically spaced cleats 2; The cleats 2 are arranged longitudinally whereby the cleats of each section are in alignment so that when the crate is ex panded a set of cleats will comprise an encirc ing member 3. The illustration in Fig. 1 has three such encircling members 3, each composed of four separate cleats; The staves ,or slatsd extend from the bottom 'encirclingmembcr 3 to the upper enci1*clingn1embei' 3, and these slats or staves may be continuous, or they may extend to the center encircling member. In Fig. 4, some of the slats e are shown extending from the bottom encircling member-3' to the top encircling member 3 while-intermediate slats'S, such as indicated at it, may extend from the bottom encircling member to the central encircling mem her 3. some of the slats or staves 8 maybe vertical and others may be diagonally positioned, as clearly shown in Fig. l.

It is preferable that a slat 9 at one end of an enclosing wall E2 may extend a predetermined distance beyond the slat at the same end, as shown at i5, while the end slat at the other end of a side wall may be flush with an end of the cleat or batten, as indicated at 26. Making a slat 9 flush with the end of the cleat or at one side wall, and shortening the slat it, at the end of an adjacent side wall, permits end I5 to engage against the inside face i? of the part S4 at a corner of two connected side walls, as clearly shown in 6. The arrangement of having one end short and the other end,

flush at adjacent corners provides for a clamping or tightening action to occur between the sides i2 of the crate when the crate'is expanded from its collapsed position, as shownin Fig; 3, to its expanded position, shown in Fig. 1. This arrangement provides for a square corner and keeps the binding wire 5 tight. Therefore, this construction causes the binding Wire to be taut at all times, and overcomes the necessity of tightening the binding wires after they are once fastened together. This arrangement provides for an overlapped corner, preventing the walls 62 at all four corners of the box or crate from moving inwardly when under stress from outside pressure, thus providing columnar strength to the box or crate when expanded for use.

Y The multiesided crate, when expanded, is

adapted to encircle an article, such as a stove or refrigerator. The article to be shipped, and to be encased in the box or crate, is normally mounted on a base l8 and secured thereto. The base l8 normally is provided with skids [9 on its bottom, Fig. l. The crate I is adapted to be slid over the article and over the base l8, Fig. l, and heldin position by driving nails through the bottom encircling element 3 and into the edges of the bottom It. The top of the crate may be closed by a top (not shown) which may be a substantial duplicate of the bottom 98 to which the article is secured or mounted.

The front and back of the crate or box may be of a length that the bottom edges will rest on top of the protruding ends of the skids, while the two remaining sides may be somewhat lengthened so that the bottom edges of the sides will be flush with the bottom surfaces of the skids I9. Nails may be driven through the bottom'cleats at the sides and into the sides of the skids. The top of the box or crate likewise may be constructed similarly and secured in position in the same manner. The topand bottom members may be of skeleton construction instead of the solid arrangement shown.

The invention provides a multi-sided crate or box construction which may be manufactured readilyand economically, and at no greater cost than the conventional so-called wire-bound" box' or crate construction. The crate is adapted to be shipped in its knocked down or collapsed position, as shown in Fig. 3, and then opened or expanded to theposition shown in Fig. 1 where it is adapted tobe placed over the article to be shipped and secured by nailing or otherwise .to the top and bottom; The positioning of the encircling wires 6 in grooves formed in the inside faces of the cleats 2 leaves no extending sharp wires outside of thebox. The slats or staves 9 hold the Wires in position, permitting these binding Wires to give or slide within the grooves when the crate is expanded and reinforce substantially the en-.

causes a sufiicient tension on the binding wires to take up all necessary slack and therefore overcomes the necessity of tightening the binding wires when the collapsed crate has been expanded. A box or crate construction made in accordance with the present invention is strong and durable, and it may be readily and economically made.

Changes may be made in the form, construction, and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention, and the right is hereby reserved to make all such changes as fall fairly within the scope of the following claims.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A crate or box construction comprising a plurality of cleats having aligned grooves formed therein, each cleat being grooved on its inner face and throughout its entire length, a continuous Wire arranged in said grooves and having free ends extending a predetermined distance beyond the adjacent ends of a pair of cleats, slats arranged on the inner faces of said cleats, and means for securing said slats to said inner faces.

2. A collapsible container, such as a box or crate, comprising a plurality of spaced encircling members, slats secured to the inside faces of the encircling members, said encircling members each comprising a plurality of aligned spaced cleats,

5 each aligned cleat having a groove therein formed REFERENCES CITED in its inner face, and a, continuous binding wire The following references are of record in the arranged 1n the grooves of the cleats of each fil f this patent; encircling member whereby the cleats of each 1 encircling member are hingedly connected to- 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS gether by said binding wire. Numbe Name Date 1,940,286 Babcock Dec. 19, 1933 HARRY F. SESTER. 2,042,323 ()tt May 26, 1936 2,042,329 Bigelow May 26, 1936 10 2,042,339 Henderson May 26, 1936 

